Instagram Stories are brief information about the lives of different people around the world. They are easily accessible, easy to digest and there are millions of them. However, when it doesn’t load, it’s incredibly frustrating. Stories are the best thing that has happened to Instagram in a long time and you can’t access them?
The rotating circle is the loading screen. When Instagram or your phone is working properly, you should never see that screen or see it for less than a second. Sometimes Stories may take a while to load, and in that case, you’ll see the circle for a longer time.
Instagram Stories
Instagram stories have become one of the most well received. They’re basically little snippets of social media that you can spend a couple of minutes looking at and then move on. Every once in a while, a Story stays with you in an emotional sense, but after 24 hours, it disappears and you move on to the next one. Stories allow us to enjoy snapshots of people’s lives and then quickly move on to the next thing.
What to do if Instagram Stories won’t load
Typically, Instagram Stories load immediately. You select it in the bar at the top of the app and it loads. No dramas or waiting. There may occasionally be delays at peak times, either on Instagram’s end or on your network’s end, but fortunately this is rare. When this happens, you will need to troubleshoot and implement solutions to get back up and running.
Let’s go over everything you can do to spruce up your Instagram Stories.
Check your network
One of the most common causes of Instagram Stories problems is a poor internet connection. This could be due to a weakened WiFi signal, something happening with your device, or the network area. Let’s see if we can narrow this down as the root cause.
First, close Instagram and open another app on your phone. Whether it’s Facebook, YouTube, or another app, try playing a video or scrolling through your news feed. If you’re having trouble loading content, the problem is likely with your device, not just Instagram. Checking other apps is the quickest way to check for internet connectivity issues.
You can then use the Ookla SpeedTest App to test your internet speeds. Open the app to see how fast your internet connection is. Taking a speed test is more accurate than checking other apps because you can look at the speedometer. If your internet problems are intermittent, the SpeedTest app will show you.
If any of these methods indicate a connection problem, there are a few things you can do to fix it quickly. First, if you have mobile data, try switching to WiFi (and vice versa). Then, reload Instagram and tap the Story you’re trying to enjoy.
If WiFi is not available, try turning your phone off and on again. Turning your phone off and on again forces your device to disconnect and reconnect to the Internet.
Lastly, you may need to reset your network connection. Instructions vary depending on whether you are using an Android or iOS device.
Note: This will not delete any important information from your phone.
How to reset network settings on Android
To reset network settings on an Android device, do this:
- Open Settings on your Android device and tap Connections.
- Scroll to the bottom of this menu and tap More connection settings.
- Tap on Reset network settings.
After performing these steps, your device will reboot. Now you can reopen Instagram and see if the spinning circle disappeared.
How to reset network settings on iOS
iOS users can follow these steps to reset their network settings:
- Open the Settings on your iPhone and tap General.
- Scroll down and tap Restart.
- Tap on Reset network settings.
You will need to enter your screen unlock code. Then the phone will reboot. Once you’ve reset your network settings, launch Instagram and check if your Stories are working.
Restart the application
Assuming you don’t have any connection issues, it’s time to focus on the Instagram app. The first logical step is to restart the application. This goes beyond switching to another application because you will need to completely close the application so that all processes stop running.
You will have to follow a different set of instructions depending on the operating system you are using.
To perform a normal restart of the Instagram app, both Android and iOS users can access the multitasking feature on their phones and swipe up to close the app. Once you have closed it, reopen Instagram to see if the problem persists.
Android users can force close the app, while iOS users can complete the same task by closing the app normally.
If you are using an Android device, follow these steps:
- Open Settings and Applications on your phone.
- Select instagram and Forced stop if the option is available.
Now you can restart the Instagram app and try the Stories feature.
Restart your phone
Perform a hard reset of your phone and then try History again. While it’s unlikely that your phone is causing problems with Instagram Stories and nothing else, power cycling your phone removes any background processes that could interfere with the app’s behavior.
Clear app cache
Again, clearing the Instagram app cache shouldn’t make any difference when loading Stories; It’s a non-destructive test, so it’s worth a try. iPhones do not have a “Clear Cache” option, but they do have a “Download App” feature that removes any unnecessary app data. This is how you can do it on each model:
On Android:
- Open Settings and Applications.
- Select instagram.
- Select Storage.
- Select clear cache.
Note: If you touch Delete data You will have to log in to Instagram again and you will lose any drafts you have saved.
On iPhone
- Open Settings and tap General.
- Tap on iPhone storage.
- Locate and touch instagram.
- Tap Download application.
Update or reinstall Instagram
Before uninstalling Instagram, try updating the app in the Play Store or Apple Store. You can always uninstall and reinstall the app if this doesn’t work.
Note: Deleting and reinstalling Instagram will delete all saved drafts and you will need to log in again.
On Android:
- Open Settings and Applications.
- Select instagram on your device.
- Select Uninstall.
- Open Google Play and install a fresh copy of Instagram.
On iPhone:
- Open Settings and General.
- Select iPhone storage.
- Select instagram.
- Select Delete application and confirm your choice.
- Load up the App Store and download and install a fresh copy.
Check your phone’s date and time
This solution may seem a little strange, but it may be the reason why you are having problems. Your date and time should update automatically, but sometimes we change them or a system issue causes the feature to display the wrong time.
Whether you are using an iPhone or Android device, check the Date & Time settings to fix the issue.
On Android:
- Open Settings and touch General Administration – These instructions may vary by manufacturer, so you can use the search icon and type Date and Time to go directly to settings.
- Tap on Date and Timethen reset to Automatic or update your time zone.
On iPhone:
- Open Settings and tap General.
- Tap on Date and Time.
- Set it to Automatic or update the time zone you prefer.
Frequent questions
Here are some more answers to your most frequently asked questions about Instagram.
Does Instagram have technical support?
Maybe you’ve followed the troubleshooting steps above and are still having issues with Instagram Stories or have a user-specific issue. Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t have a customer support team to call when you have a problem.
However, you can use the ‘Help’ feature of the app to report a problem. All you need to do is open the app and head to Settings. From here, tap Help, then tap Report a problem. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete a report and Instagram will send you an email with additional troubleshooting steps or a solution.
I tried everything and my Stories still won’t load. What’s happening?
The Instagram Stories spinning circle issue is a well-known glitch for many Instagram fans. If you reported the issue and followed all of our techniques above, there is only one last option left: wait. Unfortunately, this isn’t the most reassuring advice, but Instagram might have a system-wide issue that’s preventing it from moving forward.
The previous steps have covered almost everything you can control; Now it’s time for Instagram developers to fix the problem. Fortunately, there is one last resource you can use to see if anyone else is having the same problem. Use the DownDetector website to look for any known issues with Instagram.
Do you know any other method to solve it? Tell us below if so!
